Speakout

With truckers being more regulated and having to pay more and more taxes, it’s important to educate the public about freight’s importance. Truckers need to vote in every election and, for those who have time, seek elected office. For example, I am running for county commissioner at my neighbors’ encouragement.

Truckers learn where everything comes from, where it goes and who made money on it: Few people have access to that valuable knowledge. And today’s political climate favors the citizen representative, like me and other owner-operators.

It’s important to be politically aware and involved to help move our nation in the right direction. If you are in long haul, vote absentee. Read about candidates’ agendas. Attend local forums. Write letters to your local newspaper to support candidates and campaign for them. Contribute to campaign funds, even if in modest amounts.

Several elected offices are within your reach, if you try. Let’s roll!

KEITH STANLEY | Owner of Ironhorse Transport | Gettysburg, Pa.

Why pay for Mexicans’ EOBRs?

It’s ludicrous that taxpayers are paying for the purchase and installation of electronic onboard recorders for Mexican truckers in the cross-border program. If Mexican drivers want to enter the United States, they should pay for the required equipment. The government is not paying for U.S. drivers’ recorders.

This will not change Mexican truckers’ practice of operating with shoddy equipment and sub-standard procedures. Are the Mexican drivers going to be fluent enough in English, or is that basic requirement for safety and business also going to be set aside?

EOBRs will not make our highways safer. They will not stop tailgaters, speeders or drivers who don’t use turn signals. But, they will greatly enhance revenue. They will remove safe and experienced drivers from the road due to the bogus ticket system implemented by many less-than-professional law enforcement officers, especially in California, or due to the refusal of drivers to work in this challenging environment.

Remember what Ross Perot said about that hissing sound – it’s your jobs moving south. Listen close, and you can hear it now.

GORDON ALKIRE | Riley, Kan.

“If we’d been a little earlier, we might have ended up in the Pacific Ocean.”

— Trucker Cliff Turner told The Monterey County Herald newspaper of being rerouted from a section of Highway 1 shortly after a section of the road crumbled away.

How are you planning to cope with rising diesel prices?

“Drill, Baby, drill! I’m getting my fuel mileage up as much as I can. It’s bad that the national average the fuel surcharge is based on is claiming $3.79 … and the East Coast price is more than $4.”

MICHAEL STAFFORD

Carthage, Mo.

O&S Trucking

“Retiring. Partly because of the fuel prices and partly because I’m fed up with FMCSA and all of the new regulations.”

DON OLSON

Colfax, Wis. | Leased to Dart Transit

“The fuel surcharges I receive help quite a bit. I receive upwards of 60 cents or more per mile. I have older equipment and small payments and can ride it out better than most. My breaking point is about $5.50 to $6 a gallon.”

RANDAL BOUWENS

Newark, N.Y. | Independent (R.O.B. Transport)

“I don’t really have to deal with the prices directly, because I drive for the company, but we’re having a company-wide meeting soon… I assume we might hear something about what it means for our paychecks.”